Our Guide to Juneau - Eaglecrest

We're doing a short little series on our favorite places here in Juneau! So many times up at the tram, we are asked where the locals go, or where the prettiest spots are. 

Well, here are your questions answered! Our favorite places to go to, and the places we think you've just gotta see while you're here!

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As many of you know, this last winter wasn't really a winter by Juneau standards. There was hardly any snow, which greatly affected our local and much loved ski area, Eaglecrest. 

Quinn and Abigail both had gotten season passes, sadly they didn't get to use them.


But Eaglecrest is a wonderful place to go all year-round! Although the skiing and snowboarding draws many people in the winter, the rest of the year locals come from all over Juneau to hike and enjoy the lovely scenery.

A few days ago Quinn and I decided to hike up the mountains with our friend Jacob.

Jacob and Quinn have been friends for probably forever, and they shared stories with me as we hiked about all the trouble they got into as children (and teenagers) on and off the slopes of Eaglecrest.

The sun was shining beautifully, making our hike even more enjoyable. The trail to climb up into the mountains is actually more of an access road for the ski area, so that vehicles can get up to the top to work on the buildings and ski lifts.

Two summers ago we got permission to drive our own big truck up the mountains, but that was for our Alaska Odyssey show movie! 


We may have wished part way up that we could have taken the truck...but where would the fun be in that?

At one of the first ski lifts we passed, the boys decided to show off their strength by climbing around. 

It's easy to tell that these two are best friends, isn't it?

The higher we climbed, 
the more snow we saw. 

Because of the warm winter we had, snow was much higher on the mountains than it was supposed to be. Quinn even said that had the winter been normal, we wouldn't have been able to hike at all, there would have been too much snow. 

At first the snow wasn't that bad...

But it quickly got quite deep, and soon we were a line of hikers, trying not to fall over in the thick snow.

The day was warm, and Quinn had worn shorts. 

Yes, he may have regretted it later.

The cold didn't bother us for long though, we grew hot from hiking, and soon the cold mountain breezes blowing from the peaks were welcomed.

We slowly climbed higher and higher, the snow getting deeper and deeper. 

The sun has been forecasted all this next week, so by next weekend a lot of this snow will be melted away (making this hike a lot easier!).

As we got near the top, we could see tracks from desperate skiers who had hiked up to get some skiing in, even though the ski area was long closed.



And when we finally reached the top, it was hard to believe how much snow we had been walking on!

(It was also a bit hard to get down)

The views were stunning, and well worth the hard hike through the snow:

At the top we rested and soaked up the sunshine.

Jacob also did some flips off of the ski lift into the snow. Causing him to get pretty cold, and causing us to get colder just watching him!

We built a mini snowman before hiking back down, but we hoped to have a bit more fun...

We had brought trash bags for sledding!


The plan was for us to just sled all the way back down the mountain, but unfortunately the snow wasn't soft enough (the sun had set, causing the top layer of snow to harden into ice). That didn't stop us from trying though!

Well...maybe next time.

We had a great time hiking, and (when there's a bit more snow melted) we hope any of you who are coming to Juneau will put this hike on your list of things to do. The views are amazing, and the trail (though steep) is easy and well maintained. We'll be doing this trail again very soon, maybe we'll see some of you along the way!

Preparing For Easter - Part 1

Easter is almost here, and with it come feelings of spring and the joy and victory of Easter Sunday! 
This will be the first Easter the family will be home for in quite a while, and we're really getting into it! 

Abigail insisted that we make egg trees (something Melissa hasn't done since the kids were small), so out we went one early Saturday morning to gather blueberry branches...

It was still pretty chilly outside with a blanket of snow on the ground, so I bundled up in my favorite gloves and a shawl my great-grandmother knit. 

Quinn said I looked liked Tasha Tudor!

 (which I guess makes Quinn 

my faithful corgi, right?) 

If we looked closely, we could see that there were dew drops frozen to the bright red blueberry branches. 

Bright pink buds were on every bush, and with some luck they'll bloom inside for us very soon...

After filling the trug, 

it was time to go home.

Now came the hard part:

Blowing out all the eggs!

Abigail was sick, and Melissa was busy in the kitchen (preparing a wonderful lasagna dinner for us!), so the task of blowing out and cleaning all the eggs for decorating fell to Quinn and I. The task took us nearly two and a half hours! But that might have been because we got five dozen eggs...we wanted to be able to decorate a lot!

While we blew out egg after egg (Quinn remarked that he wouldn't eat eggs for a month!), snow fell quietly outside but was soon replaced by sunshine.

Cedar sat happily out on the porch, watching the last few snowflakes fall in the bright sunlight.

Once all the eggs were done (two and half hours later...), it was time to take a break and eat some dinner!

But dinner didn't last long, and soon we were all ready and excited to start painting and dyeing our eggs!

It had gotten dark outside, but we all happily worked and worked on our mini creations!

 Here are a few of my eggs, dyed and painted waiting to dry. I hadn't dyed eggs in years, and I'd never thought of painting them. Considering this I am very happy with how they turned out! 


But mine were nothing compared to Melissa's...

Yes, that's a teeny-tiny bird's nest on an egg!

Melissa laughed as she counted my eggs...I had painted 23 eggs in one evening and she had only painted 2.

I think you can agree with me however that her's were a bit more complex then mine.

She has promised that she'll be painting more eggs throughout the week, so we look forward to seeing her other creations!

When we finally stopped for the evening, it was after midnight! Oops! I guess the time really does fly when you're having fun.

 To read part 2 of this adventure,
click here!

A Late Christmas Diary - Part 1

We woke up this morning to the sweetest surprise

For the world had turned sugary in front of our eyes

 What once were the colors of summer and fall

Now a whiteness, like iceing, covers it all

From the door to the windows to the tops of the trees

A chillness hovers and shivers our knees

So bundle up tight, put warm socks on your feet

For if we need leave, then the car we must heat!

The sun may shine bright, and it may melt away

But just wait until morning, for winter must stay.

                                                   

So sit down by the fire, get all warm and snug

And maybe let Cedar sleep inside on the rug.

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Although snow hasn't fallen hardly at all this winter, that doesn't mean we've escaped winter entirely. We have had quite a few sunny days (ya!) that have chilled us all to the bone (oh no!). Most days we have all agreed that a fire and maybe a nice hot cup of tea was needed. But sometimes you just have to brave the below zero temperatures and feel the rays of sunshine that seldom come to Juneau.

And maybe do a few hops on the ol' trampoline...

Because beauty can be found anywhere. Even when your hands are freezing, your nose is frozen, and you're pretty sure humans weren't meant to live in conditions like this.

For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Isaiah 55:12